Climate Insider Brief:

• Downforce Technologies, a global climate tech company, has closed a $4.2 million funding round led by Equator VC to scale its Downforce technology, which measures and predicts soil organic carbon levels.
• The technology is designed to provide reliable, impartial, and cost-effective measurements of soil organic carbon, enabling farmers, landowners, and corporations to track progress towards sustainability goals, unlock new revenue streams, and drive climate action.
• The funding will fuel Downforce’s international expansion and further product development, with the goal of democratizing access to the technology and empowering a wider audience to make data-driven decisions for soil health and climate action.

PRESS RELEASE – June 13, 2024 / London, UK – Global dMRV startup, Downforce Technologies, closes funding round led by Equator VC to scale ground-breaking Downforce® technology.

Downforce Technologies Limited (“Downforce”), a climate tech leader in soil organic carbon measurement and prediction, announced closing a $4.2 million funding round led by Equator VC. The existing shareholders include Tiverton Agriculture Impact Fund, Dragonfly Enviro Capital, Perivoli Innovations, and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), whose investment is managed by Virescent Ventures.

According to the UN, global climate, biodiversity, and land degradation goals will be out of reach unless investments into nature-based solutions quickly ramp up to $384 billion/year by 2025, (more than 2x current levels)[1]. Meanwhile, food producers who are reliant on global supply chains (particularly in Africa) for inputs face both uncertainty and regulatory pressures which create a need for better visibility and traceability of natural capital stocks in their supply chains. However, measuring natural capital, in particular soil organic carbon, is very challenging; in-field measurements are expensive, time-consuming, and have surprising risk for errors.

Downforce’s groundbreaking natural capital analytics technology leverages cutting-edge science, modelling and remote sensing to provide the most reliable, impartial, and cost-effective method for soil organic carbon measurement. The technology delivers critical data that empowers farmers, landowners, and corporations to track progress towards sustainability goals, unlock new revenue streams, and drive climate action. In addition to providing historical and current soil organic carbon assessments on agricultural land, the Company also provides tools for planning and executing verified carbon projects, soil health interventions, and farm emissions data integration enabling net-zero emissions reporting. This fresh capital injection will fuel Downforce’s international expansion and further product development.

“We’ve built robust technology based on excellent science, a fantastic product, and a growing client base,” said Professor Jacquie McGlade, Downforce’s Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. “This funding allows us to democratize access to the technology and empower a wider audience to make data-driven decisions for soil health and climate action.”

“Our investment stems from a comprehensive assessment of Downforce Technologies’ science, team, and technology,” said Nijhad Jamal, Managing Partner at Equator. “Downforce has successfully introduced a compelling software platform which should act as a catalyst for increased investment in soil organic carbon globally, and particularly in Africa, to ensure food security, promote climate mitigation and ensure resilience to climate change.”

About Downforce Technologies Limited

Downforce Technologies was founded in 2020 to make soil carbon measurement technology accessible and affordable. The Company’s Downforce® technology provides a reliable, impartial way to revolutionize investment in soil organic carbon and help landowners, communities and farmers maximize the potential of their land. Built on world-leading, independently validated science, Downforce® is ISO 14064-2 certified and subject to a US patent. Downforce® also provides tools to plan and deliver ISO 14064-2 verified carbon projects, land management insights for soil health interventions as well as farm emissions data integration for net zero emissions reporting.

About Equator

Equator is a venture capital firm with teams in Nairobi, Lagos, London, and Colorado that targets technology-enabled, early-stage ventures in energy, agriculture and mobility that are accelerating an equitable climate transition in Sub-Saharan Africa and supporting inclusive economic growth. Partnered with British International Investment (BII), the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), UK charity Shell Foundation and impact investor DOEN Participaties, Equator is backed by a team of technologists, operators, and investors with decades of experience investing in and scaling early-stage ventures in climate-positive sectors and across Sub-Saharan Africa.

For more detail about Equator, its investment focus and portfolio, please visit www.equator.vc .

SOURCE: Downforce Technologies

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